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Group: Runoff from old mine in NE Minn. is toxic

Toxic runoff from an old test mine in
northeastern Minnesota may threaten nearby lakes and streams, an
environmental group warned.

Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness said it found toxic
metals in water samples from the old copper exploration site about
15 miles southeast of Ely, just a couple miles from the Boundary
Waters Canoe Area.

The group contends that state regulators have ignored the old
site for more than 30 years. The site is near some current copper
exploration sites and proposed mines, and the group said its
findings show that mining Minnesota's copper-bearing rock could
cause a pollution problem.

Richard Clark, a hydrogeologist with the Minnesota Pollution
Control Agency, told the Duluth News Tribune for a story published
Tuesday that publicity about the study might prompt his agency and
the Department of Natural Resources to retest the site.

Clark said the lab results "make sense, they don't surprise
me." But he also said a recent inspection showed little or no
runoff reaching nearby streams.

"The levels of copper, nickel, iron and arsenic are all in
violation" of state water quality standards, Betsy Daub, policy
director of the group, told the News Tribune. "We don't know if
the runoff is reaching the Kawishiwi River or not, or if it's
causing any damage, because the state hasn't been monitoring the
problem for more than 30 years."

Neither the PCA nor DNR has actually taken samples at the site
since 1976.

Steve KoschakMPR Photo/Derek Montgomery

Clark said he visited the site two weeks ago when concerns were
first brought to his attention and that he found it dry, with no
runoff. He said he's been there several times in recent years and
not seen any environmental damage as rainwater percolates through a
pile of waste rock from the test mine and slowly seeps out.

"There was a report issued in 1974 when the mining was
completed that said the volume and nature of the discharge at that
site didn't pose any threat" to nearby waterways, Clark said.
"The decision in the 1970s (not to conduct further tests) predates
my arrival here. But it's my guess that report is why testing was
discontinued."

The small test mining was conducted in 1974 by International
Nickel Co. to look for copper and other valuable metals. Recent
exploration by other companies have found vast deposits of copper,
nickel, platinum and other metals.

Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness is concerned because
when copper-bearing rock is exposed to air and water during mining,
it can leach sulfuric acid that can damage streams and aquatic
life.

Several supporters of copper mining in Minnesota, including
mining company geologists, have said the rock near Ely is too low
in sulfur to cause acid runoff. But Daub said her group's findings
call those claims into question.

"We now know we are getting acid drainage where the companies
are saying we would not get it," Daub said. "This was a small
test site of about 10,000 tons total and it's causing acid runoff
decades later. Twin Metals is proposing mining 40,000 tons per
day."

Frank Ongaro, executive director of the industry group Mining
Minnesota, told the News Tribune that even if the new findings are
accurate, they will have little bearing on future mining operations
because so much about mining has changed.

"This was 36 years ago, pre-environmental review ... and
pre-mineland reclamation laws," Ongaro said. "Projects being
proposed now will have to demonstrate that they can mine process
and handle their waste and still meet Minnesota standards or they
will not get a permit. These projects are being engineered
precisely to address all the waste issues that may arise from any
mining operation."